FIELD TWP- Overtime is prime time for the North Woods girls basketball team, as they picked up extra period wins against Deer River and Cherry this week, sandwiched around a solid win against Hill City.
Playing on back-to-back nights last week, the North Woods girls chalked up a big 64-63 overtime road win against Deer River on Feb. 2 then returned to the home hardwoods for a 58-36 thrashing of Hill City.
Deer River came into the Thursday game intent on putting a halt to a five-game losing streak and made it tough on the Grizzlies early, forging to an 18-13 lead. But a ten-point run fueled by a trey and six total points by Hannah Kinsey put North Woods on top 23-18 with just under four minutes to go before halftime. Buckets by River Cheney and Talise Goodsky helped to push the lead to 30-22 at the break.
North Woods held the Warriors at bay for most of the second half, going up by 11 at one point on a Brynn Chosa triple, 44-33, but Deer River was back within five, 49-44, with 4:12 left. The Warriors completed the comeback with :32 remaining with a bucket to tie the score at 56 all, and each team hit a free throw down the stretch to end regulation knotted at 57-57.
Deer River was the first to draw blood in overtime, connecting on three charities for a 60-57 lead, Kiana LaRoque broke the ice for North Woods with a bucket and Goodsky followed up with a fast break score to put the Grizzlies in front 61-60. Free throws by Cheney and Kinsey extended the lead to 63-60 before the Warriors notched a bucket to get within one, 63-62, with :28 remaining. The Grizzlies’ Helen Koch was fouled on the next possession and cooly dropped in a pair of charities, the fifth North Woods starter to score in the extra period, making the score 65-62. The Warriors managed one more basket down low but ran out of time, preserving the 65-64 Grizzlies’ victory.
“It was a great game for the fans, winning by one in overtime,” North Woods Head Coach Liz Cheney said. “We had kind of a slow start. Baskets were not going in for us. We were shooting from the outside instead of driving in and going for the short shot.”
Cheney was pleased her team didn’t get rattled when they got pushed to overtime.
“Everyone’s anxiety was a little bit high, but they maintained their composure and got the win anyway,” she said.
Cheney led three Grizzlies players in double figures with 16, followed by Kinsey and Koch with 13 each.
Against Hill City on Friday, the Grizzlies broke an early 12-12 tie with a pair of Koch buckets and a pair of Cheney charities to go up 18-12. Cheney knocked down two more shots from the floor as the Grizzlies lead expanded to 22-16, and the lead was seven at the break, 25-19. Hill City was within five at 37-32 with nine minutes remaining, but the Grizzlies put together a devastating display of offense and defense, closing out the game on a huge 19-4 run to win 58-36. North Woods picked up three balls from Koch, Brynn Chosa, and Sierra Schuster in the blitz.
The Grizzlies were led by Koch with 16, followed by Cheney with 14 and LaRoque with 12.
Tuesday’s game at Cherry was a pairing of teams with quickness and full court presses, both of which played into the outcome of this one.
The Grizzlies and Tigers traded blows early, but North Woods took better advantage of turnovers to edge ahead 29-25. Koch and Tatum Barto each score five points in the waning minutes of the first half to give the Grizzlies a 12-point lead, 39-27, at the break.
In the second half it was the Tigers’ turn to show what their speed and press could do. Turning the tables and rattling the Grizzlies into repeated turnovers and poor shooting, Cherry chopped a 14-point deficit to 49-41 before before reeling off an 10-0 spurt to take a 51-49 lead. Koch hit a pair of free throws with :29 left in regulation to put North Woods up 58-56, but Cherry raced down the court for a two-pointer before the buzzer to send it to overtime.
Two quick baskets by Koch and LaRoque to open the extra period and four free throws down the stretch, one by Kinsey and three by Koch, sealed the 66-63 win.
Koch again led the team in scoring with 20. LaRoque dropped in 12 and Kinsey added 11.